Polo Ralph Lauren’s recent showing at Paris Fashion Week was inspired by “a life well-travelled” and featured a series of models styled in instinctual, “gathered” silhouettes. An industrial warehouse tufted with wild grass and flowers became the setting of a sprawling collection that felt like it could as much make a home on the road as it could in the wardrobe of those only nomadic at heart.
Trenches, scarves, beaded braids and jewellery, practical wide-brim hats. At its heart, the House’s Spring Summer 27 showing felt jubilant, lightweight and vivid in palette: moving between vibrant shades of red, cobalt, mustard, coral and prints.
Craftsmanship was central to many of the season’s garments and accessories, and the collection featured handcrafted jewellery from Piki Wadsworth, a second-generation Diné and Hopi jeweller in shells and stones, turquoise and lapis. Wadsworth is part of Ralph Lauren’s Authentic Makers program and uses age-old techniques to shape, cut, drill and polish each material by hand.
Elsewhere, polished silver belts harkened back to the brand’s Western sensibilities, and beaded water bottle carriers added an element of texture and play to beachier looks. There was a real sense of eclecticism to the styling – like the wearer had gathered each belonging in a harbourside thrift store in some far-flung locale and brought them back together like a bowerbird. Tasteful but not quite precise.
The bohemian nature of the collection was made tangible through materiality – raffia, leather and twill, silk scarves repurposed as belts and worn on heads. Beachy woven and canvas bags perfect for toting to the beach or the bush. All-weather outerwear – trenches and jackets – that felt pragmatic and yet, lightweight enough to be stuffed haphazardly in a rucksack.
Despite the spirited nature of the collection, there were certainly some Ralph-isms that shone through. Lauren’s preppy DNA certainly still punctuated the collection via a couple of graphic print sweaters and knitted cardigans. The Polo Loafer – inspired by the classic smoking slipper – also returned in shades of suede navy, muted yellow and in a firey red leather.
